This invention relates to a device, herein termed a “binocucorder”, which comprises a digital video camera (a “camcorder”) of the recently introduced type which is substantially the size of a person's hand and which, in addition to a viewfinder, typically includes a Liquid Crystal Diode (“LCD”) monitor incorporated in a door that swings open laterally from one side of the camcorder's housing, the camcorder being mounted on top of a binocular having a wide angle field of view; wherein the camcorder and binocular are cooperatively related such that the binocular operated in wide-angle mode normally serves as the target acquisition and centering means for the camcorder, as opposed to using the camcorder's viewfinder or LCD monitor for that purpose. The camcorder can thereby normally be operated in substantial telephoto mode with certainty of recording the target and without loss of a moving target, the optical superiority of the binocular being utilized to see and center on a target, particularly a distant target, and especially a nighttime target, even before it becomes visible in the viewfinder or LCD monitor of the camcorder.
Camcorders used to be bulky and were (and still are) provided with a viewfinder which is an eyepiece through which the user had to peer in order to view a small video screen on which the target was electronically displayed while being recorded on a videotape cassette. Difficulty locating a target, especially a distant target, in the small screen of the viewfinder even in the daytime let alone at night, led to the addition of the significantly larger LCD monitor which activates automatically when the door in which it is incorporated is swung open. Simultaneously with this improvement, camcorders which were so equipped were caused to operate digitally and were made much smaller and lighter in weight, and they have recently been reduced in size even further such that such camcorders can now fit in the palm of one's hand. Although the LCD monitor is a significant improvement, user's continue to find that acquisition and maintenance of the centering of a target in the LCD monitor is still difficult when the camcorder is operated in some degree of telephoto mode because the field of view is then significantly reduced. These limitations are especially noticeable when attempt is made to videotape a distant target at night. Typically, before the user can zoom the camcorder in on a target, he must first operate the camcorder in wide-angle mode in order to acquire the target and then zoom in on it once it is centered in the viewfinder or monitor. But the target, especially a moving target, is then easily lost due to the then existent narrower field of view, which requires going back to wide angle mode in order to reacquire the target. Obviously, the time taken to perform these operations reduces the time during which a moving subject can be recorded close up.
Many events, especially sporting events, are best enjoyed when one has the widest field of view. Each time the camcorder is operated into telephoto mode to “pull in” a subject of particular interest, that wide field of view is reduced, with corresponding loss of sight of what may be happening outside that reduced field of view. As a result, videotaping an event reduces the camcorder operator's enjoyment of the event as a whole.
The limited usefulness of the camcorder's viewfinder and even its LCD monitor becomes especially evident when the camcorder is used at night. It is frequently difficult, and sometimes impossible, for example, to identify an aircraft against a dark sky using either the viewfinder or the monitor. But such a subject is easily seen when using a binocular.
The invention enhances the ease with which a subject can be acquired, whether by day or by night, and kept centered for recording by a camcorder by mounting the camcorder on a binocular that is either fixed in wide angle field of view, or, is a zoom type binocular that is adjustable to a wide angle field of view, the binocular and the camcorder being cooperatively related such that both are always sighted on the same target, whereby the binocular may thereby normally be used as the target acquisition and centering means for the camcorder. The camcorder may thereby normally be operated in some degree of telephoto mode with certainty that the target is being recorded so long as the user maintains the target centered in the field of view of the binocular. Since the target will always be easier to see using the binocular, the user will always be assured that the target is in fact centered on the line-of-sight of the camcorder and its image is being recorded even if the target is not immediately visible in the viewfinder or monitor. This cooperative relationship greatly enhances the effectiveness of the camcorder.
It is further desired to provide such a device in such a compact size and light enough in weight that it can be conveniently hand-held, like a binocular when used alone. Accordingly, attainment of the results sought by the present improvement are dependent upon utilization of a camcorder that is of the smallest possible size. So-called “mini-camcorders” currently exist that are small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand. Such a combination (a “binocucorder”) is conveniently hand-holdable, is as easy to carry about as is a binocular, and is as ready at all times for immediate use as is a binocular.
The user may then watch an event using only the binocular portion of his binocucorder, which is set in wide angle mode, enjoying the widest possible view of the event or easily acquiring a target, especially at night, while being assured that the camcorder, which has been set in a preferred telephoto mode, is positively recording a centered target of particular interest at close range. Daytime sporting events may thereby be enjoyed without interruption with a continuous wide angle view of the event, and nighttime subjects are quickly and easily acquired with certainty of positive centering of the subject in the field of view of the camcorder. While the LCD monitor may still be used for centering the target when the camcorder is used indoors where subjects are at extreme close range, at all other times is serves only as the means of monitoring the operating mode of the camcorder, and for viewing playback. Since the opened LCD monitor door is located immediately above the eyepieces of the binocular, only a slight upward glance is required whenever it is desired to check the operating configuration of the camcorder, such as confirming that the camcorder is in fact recording and not in pause mode, the degree of telephoto, the condition of the battery, etc.
The prior art is not known to disclose a miniature camcorder mounted on a binocular. The nearest prior art known appears to be a digital still photo camera incorporated in the body of a binocular between the tubular structures which house the optical elements of the binocular, and which has the capability of displaying on an included LCD monitor the last 30 seconds of what has been viewed through the binocular. A camcorder cannot be so located because said tubular structures would block opening of the LCD monitor, and also block opening of a second door which is located on the opposite side of the camcorder by means of which video cassettes are inserted into and removed from the camcorder.